Dispelling the myth : the experiences and realities of working class African American women

172 Pages·1997·6.1 MB·English

by  Battle-Walters, Kimberly A., 1967-

DISPELLINGTHEMYTH:
THEEXPERIENCESANDREALITIESOF
WORKINGCLASSAFRICANAMERICANWOMEN
By
KIMBERLYA.BATTLE-WALTERS
ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL
OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT
OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREE
OFDOCTOROFPHILSOPHY
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA
1997
Copyright1997
by
KimberlyA.Battle-Waiters
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First and foremost, I give all glory and honor to God for making this
degreeandexperiencepossible. IfithadnotbeenfortheLord,whowasonmy
side,Iwouldnothavecometothisvictoriouspoint.
Second, I would liketothank mycommitteechair, Dr. Joe Feagin, and
committeemembersDr.FelixBerardo,Dr.HernanVera,Dr.ConstanceShehan,
and Dr. Delores James fortheir timeless support, help, and patience. Their
commitmenttoexcellencechallengedmetogivemybest. Ithankthemfortheir
supportbothinsideandoutsideoftheclassroom.
WhenItaughtatthecommunitycollegelevel,mymentorsDr.KarenCole
SmithandDrewHurleyfromSantaFeCommunityCollegeweremajorblessings.
Many thanks also go to the Graduate Minority Office for working behind the
scenes to find funding, such as the SFCC/UF Black Faculty fellowship, for
studentslikemyself.
ThereweremanypeopleonthesidelinesthatquietlycheeredmeonthatI
would liketothankaswell. PastorJoeMcCulloughandtheGainesvilleFourth
AvenueChurchofGodfamilyconsistentlyprayedformeandmadesureIate.
Iwillnotforgettheirkindnesstome, northebarbecuechicken, beans,greens,
andcornbreadthattheyfed me. SisterOraMcClellanandSisterFannieMae
Woodberry started this feeding trend. I also thank my faithful prayer partner
Tanya“Faith”McCulloughforencouragingmethroughtheword,whenIbecame
discouragedandtired.
Aspecial thanks goesto the participants ofthis study. Thesewomen
sharedtheirlifeexperiencescandidly,allowingmetheopportunitytogathersuch
richdata.
Iwould also liketothanktheadministration, staff, and facultyatAzusa
PacificUniversityfortheirencouragementandsupportduringthefinalstagesof
mydissertation.
Warm thanks gotothe United Church ofThe Living God, friends, and
familyfortheirsupportand prayers. Togethertheygenerously purchased my
expensivecapandgown!
Finally, IwouldliketothankmyparentsRandallandJanetWalters,who
toldmethatIcoulddoanything,evenwhenIthoughtIcouldnot,andmysisters
Tessla,Ericka,andRhandi,whocheeredmeonfromthesidelines. Eventssuch
asthe nightthatmymotherdrovefortwo hourstomyhouseto help me read
throughmydissertation,stayedupwithmeallnight,andthenreturnedtoherjob
the nextmorning afteronlysleepingfortwo hourswill notbeforgotten! This
greataccomplishmentwastrulyagroupeffort!
IV
TABLEOFCONTENTS
page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
iii
ABSTRACT
viii
CHAPTERS
ONE INTRODUCTION
1
TheLiterature 3
BeautyShopLiterature 5
PurposeoftheStudy 10
CentralParadigmandTheoreticalConcepts 12
Summary 16
TWO METHODS 18
ResearchQuestions 19
QualitativeMethods 20
DemographicProfile 23
WorkingClassStatus 24
TheCommunity 24
TheExtendedCaseMethod 25
Summary 26
THREESHEILA’SSHOP 28
ParticipantObservation 28
TheShop 28
TheWomen 30
BeautyShopCulture 34
TheMiracleWorker 34
TheWait 35
ShopTalk 35
TheChair 39
PricesandProcedures 41
FeministViews 43
v
Summary 45
FOUR THEREALITIESOFBEINGBLACKANDFEMALE 47
TheExperience 48
GenderedRacismLiterature 52
StrugglesandChallenges 56
WomenandWelfare 60
WelfareIdeologies 62
MediaImages 66
BlackandWhiteWomen 69
OneWord 71
TheoreticalConclusions 73
Summary 75
FIVE AFRICANAMERICANFAMILIESANDCOMMUNITIES 76
Families 76
FamilyLiterature 80
BlackCommunities 85
Strengths 85
Weaknesses 87
BiggestThreat 88
Relationships 89
TheoreticalConclusions 92
Summary 93
SIX RACEMATTERS 96
AMatterofColor 96
Discrimination 101
DiscriminationLiterature 105
AffirmativeAction 107
ArgumentsonAffirmativeAction 110
TheoreticalConclusions 113
Summary 114
SEVENSTANDINGSTRONG 115
FamilyTies 115
DependenceandInterdependence 117
ChurchandGod 119
OtherOutlets 122
Goals 123
TheoreticalConclusions 127
Summary 128
VI
EIGHT SUMMARY,DISCUSSION,ANDCONCLUSION 129
Summation 129
Findings 130
TheoreticalConcepts 138
TheExtendedCaseMethodRevisited 140
NewTheory 141
FutureStudies 144
REFERENCES 145
APPENDIXAINTERVIEWQUESTIONS 153
APPENDIXBDEMOGRAPHICS 156
APPENDIXCDATAANALYSISANDCODING 159
BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 161
vii
AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool
oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentoftheRequirements
fortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy
DISPELLINGTHEMYTH:
THEEXPERIENCESANDREALITIES
OFWORKINGCLASSAFRICANAMERICANWOMEN
By
KimberlyA.Battle-Waiters
December1997
Chairman: Dr.JoeR.Feagin
MajorDepartment: Sociology
Aplethoraofscholarlyliteraturehasbeenwrittenexaminingthelivesof
poorAfricanAmericanwomenand,morerecently,middleclassAfricanAmerican
women. Unfortunately, working class African American women have been
largelyignored. Inthisdissertationtheindividualandcollectivelivesofworking
classAfricanAmericanwomenareexamined, aswellastheirexperiencesand
realities.
To facilitatethis, a sample oftwentywomen was selected and studied
within a southern beauty shop setting. Using a combination of qualitative
methods, bothface-to-faceinterviewsanda participantobservationstudywere
done. Through a face-to-face process, the women discussed and debunked
stereotypesandnegativeimagesthathadbeensociallyembellished.
viii
They also discussed issues of race and gender, the status of black
families and communities, their support networks, and their political and
economicconcerns.
Threeracialrelationstheoretical conceptswereusedtoanalyzethedata.
Theywere“gendered racism,”“cumulativelivedexperiences,”and “thehabitof
surviving.” Thesetheoreticalconceptswereused inthecontextofinterpreting
and understanding the lived experiences ofthese women, as they related to
racial,gender,andclassstruggles.
The effectiveness of these existing theoretical concepts in helping us
understandthelivesofthesewomenwasmeasuredbyanevaluativeresearch
method known as the extended case method. This method was used to
examinethestrengthsandweaknessesofexistingtheoreticalconcepts,asthey
related to this study. After using this method, new theoretical insights were
given, intended to act as a catalystforfuture studies forthis segment ofthe
population.
IX
CHAPTERONE
INTRODUCTION
Toolittleattentionhasbeendevotedtotherealworking-classstatusof
Blackwomen.(Hine,1992,p.127)
There is a scarcity of scholarly literature that describes the life
experiencesofworkingclassAfricanAmerican1 women. Muchoftheliterature
focuses on the “pathologies” of poor urban African Americans, reinforcing
stereotypicalimages(Moynihan,1965;Murray,1984;Hernstein&Murray, 1994).
Other works showcase the achievements or progress of African Americans,
thereby playing down racial inequities altogether (Wattenburg & Scammon,
1973;Glazer,1975).
Studiesthat citethe plightofblackwomen on welfare have been well
cited in both scholarly and popular literatures (Jarrett, 1994 & 1996; Caputo,
1993; Quadagno, 1994; Seccombeetal., 1996). These imagesofthesingle
black mother often remain vividly etched in our minds, while images of
successfulworkingclassAfricanAmericanwomenarenoteasilyfound.
Scholarlyworksthatexaminethe blackmiddle-classexperienceofboth
menandwomen,suchasLivingwithRacism byFeaginandSikes(1994)and
TheRageofaPrivilegedClass (1993)byEllisCose, exist. Studiesthatfocus
exclusivelyon theexperiencesof blackwomenarerelativelyrare(Scott, 1989;
Essed,1990;Benjamin,1991;St.Jean&Feagin,1996).
1ThetermsAfricanAmericanandblackareusedinterchangeablythroughoutthisstudy. Both
termsareusedtodescribepeopleofAfricandescent. However,thetermblackisinclusiveof
peopleofAfricandescentthatarenotnecessarilyfromAmerica.
1